NOLA.com food writer Ian McNulty noted to our own Tommy Tucker that one of his favorite performances of Jazz Fest was seeing Irma Thomas join the Rolling Stones onstage to do a “mashup” of sorts in their rendition of “Time Is On My Side”. When asked what his favorite mashups were in the realm of food at Jazz Fest, McNulty had some tasty answers at the ready.
“I was holding a bag of cracklin, which I love at Jazz Fest. I also really love that Cochon de Lais poboy. The wine makers say ‘what grows together goes together’ when it comes to combining the wine and the food of the region. So, I decided to combine the cracklins onto that roasted pork poboy and a monster was born. It’s a little ridiculous, very much over the top … but, in the spirit of Jazz Fest, it’s really decadent and fun,” McNulty illustrated.
Not every attempt at a culinary mashup is as successful, however. McNulty says, “I basically started applying cracklins to anything that would hold still long enough for me to put them on top. Not all the experiments were good. I tried it on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it just turns into a sticky mess.”
Some of his other Jazz Fest food pairing suggestions include adding cracklins to Preajean’s dark roux gumbo. “Suddenly your gumbo now includes pheasant, quail, andouille sausage, and basically pork croutons,” McNulty suggests. He also suggests dunking a meat pie into gumbo to create a “Cajun French dip” Another favorite pairing is the soft shell crab poboy from Galley Seafood with the Asian Cajun’s crabstick and cucumber salad. “Put that salad on top of the soft shell crab poboy. It’s like a New Orleans poboy went to a sushi bar. Everyone will be asking you where you got it when you walk around with it. It looks really cool, too,” McNulty emphasized